We are currently planning our wedding which will be in 8 months time. Working out a budget has been very difficult, we both have our own accounts but we combine money/share the bills. It has been difficult finding out exact figures and what expenses to include in our budget as some things he takes care of, and some I do. (this is not to say either of us hide money/bills, we are completely open about of money it has just been difficult wrapping all the expenses together at once)

We have just brought our first home 8 weeks ago, and we are just finding our feet with new bills and responsibilities, as well as seeing how costs are divided in the new place.

We are young, he has a good job with an upcoming promotion to include commission (Car Salesman) and I am working fulltime as well as studying Management with the hopes to get a new job as soon as I graduate (3 months!)

For these reasons, we are pondering on a loan to ensure we have the figures there to get married. The most iportant thing to us is simply to be married, so we arent worried about anything huge or fancy but at the same time there are a couple of details and items important to me that im not willing to compromise on.

We are not looking to spend a million dollars, we arent going to go over our heads with the budget/loan but we do want to have that money available ( at the moment we may not have the time to be saving a lump sum) to book vendors and purchase items and the ability to pay it back periodically. We will have the money to repay the loan in a short amount of time, and be paying off as much as we can per pay period, keeping in mind the upcoming increase in my Fiance’s pay and a hopeful new career.I guess I am trying to convince myself that it will be okay to get a small personal loan, but I have always been of the opinion that if you cant afford it you shouldnt have/do it.

What do you bees think? Is is ‘sensible’ or should we rethink the situation?

I personally would never get a loan for a wedding since there are so many different ways to do it. I know you said you are unwilling to compromise on some things, but there are ways to do a wedding for very little money and still get what you want. It seems that you’ve already made up your mind about the loan, but it just doesn’t sound like such a good idea to me. You should have some kind of savings before you even buy a home, but if you don’t I would go on a spending freeze and only buy exactly what you need. Rebudget the wedding and consider opening a wedding account that both you and your FI can put money into. I would want to start my marriage out with as little debt as possible.

I think if those things you are not willing to compromise on are currently out of reach, it might be best to push off the wedding date until your financial situation improves. If you can’t imagine doing that, maybe those things are worth compromising on after all?

Personally, I think a loan should be used for emergencies only – you never know what will come up in life! A wedding is something that you can take time to plan for and there are many ways to do it with a tiny budget.

I think you should rethink the situation. You can have a beautiful wedding cheaply, and the worst possible position you could put yourselves in is new debt when you may or may not have a better job in 3 months, he may or may not have much commission in his new job, and you have a new house and all the bills that come along with that. Weddings aren’t worth debt. It’s not too late to postpone the wedding by a littie bit if you’d like more time to save more, either.

I would not get a loan. You think you will be able to pay it off based on a future promotion and job, but life doesn’t always work that way. One of you could get sick and need medical care, someone could lose their job, or your car could get totaled by someone without insurance. There is no way to predict the future and I don’t think you should spend money you don’t have on one day simply because you predict that you will have it

@Kriddlelouise: Would you even qualify for a loan, considering you just purchased a house?

Normally I am super against taking out a loan for a wedding, but I’m kind of torn here. On the one hand, if you can pay it back quickly it may help your credit. On the other hand, you’ve already got a house to pay for, I’m not sure if it’s realistic to add a loan payment to that. I can see why you would want to “just in case.”

But I believe that if you are in a position to get a loan, then you should get it. Wether it’s for a car, house, whatever it is you want. If you can get approved, and you KNOW you can make the payments, then go for it. I wish I could get a loan just to live my life right now! I’d love to have a huge lump sum to start paying off the debts we’ve accrued over the past 3 years, as FI has been in and out of work, but I know we don’t have the income RIGHT NOW to back it up. We are just starting to save again and won’t set a budget until we know what his new income is going to be like.

Just be realistic about how much you make. If you don’t get a better job right away, will you still be able to make the payments? I learned the hard way to not bank on possibilites!

Our current finacial position will enable to us to comfortable and confidently pay off the loan in a relatively short amount of time, making the wedding planning process and beginning of our marriage happier, smoother and easier.

I would NEVER go out to get a loan relying on an unpredictable future situation. That would be very silly.

I reitterate, I am not saying I want a 20k wedding and am refusing to budge on ANYTHING. I am saying that I am willing to compromise on almost everything to ensure we can just be married, which as i said is the most imprtant thing to both of us. I am simply trying to say that there are a couple of important things to me, such as the rings and the photographer which I want to ensure are of quality as they are forever.

@Kriddlelouise: According to your OP, you are basing your ability to pay off the loan on commissions and a job you don’t yet have. I think you should wait a few months if you are dead set on taking the loan. If you can’t find a job, and your FI’s commission is less than expected, your loan payments could be jeopardized. Just something to consider.